Claims Five: First-fence flops in the Grand National

Hallo Dandy in happy retirement in Lancashire, 21 years after his early exit from the National. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

It happens to someone, almost every year. Down at the first, a ridiculous way for a professional athlete to lose his chance in the sport's most famous contest. It is the fate that everyone fears, the great comeuppance for those who dared to hope they might tame the Grand National.

Imagine all the effort that goes into training a racehorse, the weeks spent schooling at home and firing it up the hill until it's fit. Or, from an owner's perspective, you spend masses on the entry fee because your trainer says he might be an Aintree horse, you arrange a big day out for your family and friends, all of whom back it, you lap up the atmosphere in the paddock with 39 other little groups like yours and then …

There's no call for post-race chatter when your horse has fallen at the first, no chance to trade 'if only' stories with others. It must be an extremely deflating experience, especially if your horse isn't entered for the Scottish National or the Bet365 Gold Cup, in which case his season is over and he won't be running for six months.

It really ought to be an avoidable fate. The first fence is not especially large or formidable and the telling detail is that it almost never produces a faller on the second circuit. The danger is not in the obstacle but in the way it is approached by 40 horses running freely, egging each other on, slightly out of control.

The starter still gives a formal warning to the jockeys in the weighing room before the National. "Don't go too quick," he says. "It's four and a half miles, the longest race of the year. You won't win it in the first 300 yards but you might lose it." The jockeys sit quietly, nod piously, then march out to the paddock, tapping their whips against their boots.

I remember how proud I was that I'd never backed a first-fence faller, how I used to think I must be doing something right. Until Banjo. And there have been others since. But I am, of course, in good company. Since 1990, a total of 49 horses have fallen or unseated at the first, while four more have been brought down, taking untold sums in punters' money with them. That's an average of three per year.

Some of them, being well established as dodgy jumpers, should have been obviously risky. Art Prince managed to fall at the first in 2000 and then again in 2001, while Bishops Hall also got the double up, falling one year and then unseating Marcus Armytage the next. He was only 22-1 on the second occasion. How daft would you feel, backing a horse that had got no further than the first the year before, only to see it make another sharp exit?

But there have been some really surprising names among the early departures – classy types like Paris Pike, Marlborough and Door Latch, high-profile handicappers like Gala's Image, Sacred Path, Tikram, Royal Auclair, Frenchman's Creek, Senor El Betrutti, Micko's Dream and Challenger Du Luc. Well, perhaps that last one wasn't all that surprising.

But I have another five that were more shocking. This is my countdown of the first-fence casualties that, in my time, have drawn the biggest gasps from the crowd when the commentator broke the bad news. Who will be joining them tomorrow?

5) Point Barrow, 2007

The previous year's Irish National winner, Point Barrow seemed to have solid credentials for the race that was eventually won by Silver Birch. He had won another decent handicap at Leopardstown during the season and had enjoyed the traditional prep-run for an Irish contender, being well beaten over hurdles. He was sent off the 8-1 co-favourite with Joes Edge and Monkerhostin.

As it happened, none of them got round, though Point Barrow's failure was the most abject. Held up at the back on the inside, he jumped big at the first but landed awkwardly, pitching against the horse next to him and then rolling onto his side. His only previous fall had been on his first run over obstacles in a maiden hurdle.

This was a first ride in the race for Philip Carberry, who had no better luck on his second attempt last year, falling at the 12th on Musica Bella. Point Barrow failed to win in 16 subsequent starts.

In hindsight, this is even more surprising than it seemed at the time. Docklands Express was a 20-1 shot for Seagram's National, fancied but not one of the favourites. He had not yet reached the height of his popularity, but would become beloved as a scrappy little fighter who punched above his weight. His 18 wins included the Whitbread and two Racing Post Chases and he was placed in the Gold Cup, the King George, the Grand National (in 1992) and the Hennessy.

He ran 47 times over fences and failed to complete the course on just one occasion, when he hit the deck in the 1991 National. Ridden by Anthony Tory, his regular partner at that stage in his career, he lined up on the outside of the course and led the field at the first fence, where he jumped big, landed steeply and pitched forward onto his face.

Thankfully, he was uninjured and won the Whitbread three weeks later, albeit on the disqualification of Cahervillahow, who carried the smaller horse across the Sandown run-in.

Docklands Express had a second crack at the National the following year and things went much better, despite the fact that he had a stone more to carry. He put in a clear round to be fourth, beaten 25 lengths by Party Politics but giving weight to the front three. It was a gallant effort for a small horse, even if it was not quite what was wanted by the punters who made him 15-2 favourite, a remarkable price in light of what had happened to him the year before. Has there been another first-fence faller who started favourite 12 months later?

Good sense prevailed thereafter. When Docklands Express turned up at Aintree in 1993, it was to contest the Martell Cup over the more straightforward Mildmay Course. He won the race two years in a row.

3) Double Thriller, 1999

At the age of 19, Joe Tizzard found himself with a Grand National ride to die for in Double Thriller, who had been fourth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup behind See More Business the previous month. He gave the Racing Post his thoughts about the opportunity in a lengthy interview, which they ran on the front page on the big day, under the rather cruel headline: "Joe Tizzard: How I'll win the Grand National."

"They had completely misread what I said," the jockey said, years afterwards. "I really haven't any worries at all," Tizzard was reported to have told the Post. "I've got the perfect ride."

Double Thriller was sent off the 7-1 joint-second favourite, having opened at 5-1 on the course. Positioned sensibly in midfield, he nevertheless managed to overjump at the first and that was the end of that. "The last thing I worried about was his jumping but that was what let him down," his jockey reflected. "He jumped it too well, got too much height and went straight down.

"It was frustrating but I have always been a firm believer that, once things have happened, you can't change them. I don't regret being bullish beforehand. I would be bullish again if I rode another horse like Double Thriller. If you're not confident, there's no point going there – if you go in negative, you end up with a negative result."

The bright hopes of that April morning 11 years ago look terribly innocent in light of what we know now. Double Thriller developed a breathing problem and never won again. His trainer, Paul Nicholls, is still trying to win his first National after 44 attempts.

Tizzard, who gets most of his rides from his father these days, has had a total of 11 rides in the National but has completed the course just once, when fifth on Montifault. He has fallen five times and been unseated twice. Here's hoping that he and Joe Lively get round in one piece on Saturday.

2) Hallo Dandy, 1985

We are accustomed, now, to the idea that horses do not win more than one Grand National. In the past 70 years, only Red Rum has managed to turn that particular trick, but his third victory was only eight years in the past when Hallo Dandy tried to get the double up in 1985.

An impressive winner over Greasepaint and Corbiere the previous year, he nevertheless had an attractive racing weight of 10st 12lb this time. And yet it seems that punters were not tempted, for Hallo Dandy was allowed to start at 14-1, a point bigger than he had been when successful.

Perhaps they feared that the absence of his regular rider, Neale Doughty, would make a difference. Doughty, who had also been fourth on the horse in 1983, had dislocated his shoulder in a fall and was replaced by Graham Bradley, who had the honour of partnering Hallo Dandy as far as the landing side of the first fence.

Gordon Richards, trainer of Hallo Dandy, told a biographer of his irritation over what happened. He claimed to have explained to Bradley that the horse "took a tremendous hold and tended to over-jump at the opening obstacles". Bradley replied that any criticism was unjust and that the horse had simply landed too steeply.

Hallo Dandy was not quite a spent force. At the age of 12 and with Doughty back in the saddle, he won a Saturday handicap at Ayr the following season, but could manage no better than a distant 12th place in West Tip's National.

The movie Champions ends with Aldaniti and Bob Champion entering the winner's enclosure after the 1981 National, the jockey who conquered cancer riding the horse who had been written off as a cripple. But the most astonishing modern fairytale of the turf was followed, one year later, by its greatest anticlimax when the pair had another go at the race and came down at the first.

Aldaniti was now 12 and had been well beaten in both outings in the 1981-82 season. He was set to carry 11st 9lb in the National, 10lb more than he had been carrying when he won, yet, in spite of these unpromising omens, he was allowed to start as the 12-1 joint-third favourite. I imagine the bookies found it easier to make money in those days.

Delmoss and Deep Gale towed the field along at great speed towards the first, where Deep Gale, who had been running away with an amateur rider, fell heavily. Aldaniti was settled a respectable distance behind the runaway leaders but got too close to the fence and had no chance to get his forelegs out in time for a safe landing.

Champion said he was "gutted. I hit the floor hard with my stick and my first thought was: 'Can't we start again?'"

It is a reaction that jockeys commonly describe to falling in the National. If you want to see just how thrilling the race can be, even if it is clear from an early stage that you are not going to win, watch the film taken by this camera, mounted on a jockey's helmet during the 1999 race. No wonder a first-fence exit is so frustrating.

It is also, of course, frustrating for punters – humiliating, even, if you've passed on the tip to those of your friends that don't follow the sport. It'll be a full year at least before they let you forget that. But many fine horses have been first-fence flops and it can sometimes be a matter of luck as to whether or not you've backed them. If it happens on Saturday, keep your chin up and turn your mind to what's going to win the Craven Stakes on Thursday.